Davenport Win 'Become A Poker Pro' Tourney

Published: Thursday, March 09, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

$250.000 POT TAKEN BY DAVENPORT IN 'BECOME A POKER PRO' TOURNAMENT

Poker Room's inaugural tournament generates interest and publicity

Poker Room.com's inaugural "Become a Poker Pro" poker tournament in the Bahamas generated plenty of excitement and reportage last Sunday, when Jim Davenport took the title after an eciting tussle with Bill Pero, who led for much of the final clash.

The tournament was held aboard Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas cruise ship as part of an entire weekend dedicated to some of PokerRoom.com's top online poker players.

A resident of Newport Beach, California., Davenport called Pero's all-in bet with A-Q after the flop came A-J-7 to win the tournament's final hand. Pero held Q-7 and was drawing dead after another ace fell on the turn.

Davenport, a USC graduate who recently accepted a job as an analyst for an investment bank claimed a prize package valued at $250,000 and will be sponsored by PokerRoom.com for the next 12 months. His winnings include $60,000 in cash, plus buy-ins and travel costs for 12 tournaments, including the Main Event of the 2006 World Series of Poker.

Online poker room players who earned a spot in major land-based tournaments through PokerRoom.com online satellite tournaments over the last two years were invited to play in the inaugural "Become a Poker Pro" tournament.

Sixty-nine players started the tournament online, vying for a chance to play at the final table. Players who made the final table carried their chip stack from the online portion of the tournament into the live portion of the tournament.

While Pero missed out on the first place prize, he will be joining Davenport in Las Vegas this summer, winning a spot in the Main Event of the WSOP with his second place finish.